Nolan Arenado reacts after getting hit in the hand by Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto in the seventh inning. (David Zalubowski, The Associated Press)

Nolan Arenado, the Rockies’ all-star third baseman, was removed with a hand injury in the ninth inning Saturday at Coors Field. He was hit by a Johnny Cueto fastball in Colorado’s 5-2 loss to the Reds.

In the seventh, with two outs, Cueto pegged Arenado on the left hand with a 96-mph fastball. Arenado grabbed his hand and paused outside the batters box. Rockies head athletic trainer Keith Dugger and manager Walt Weiss ran out to check on him.

Colorado catcher Michael McKenry, who regularly sits behind the plate for Jorge De La Rosa, sat out Wednesday with a right knee injury. He has been unavailable this week, but will be cleared to play Friday, Weiss said.

“Mack is a little nicked up right now,” Weiss said.

McKenry underwent season-ending left knee surgery in 2013 when he played for the Pirates.

The Rockies’ Nick Hundley throws to second base between innings against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on March 17, 2015. (Norm Hall, Getty Images)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — With the opener in Milwaukee just 13 days away, there are strong indications that the Rockies will open the season with three catchers on their roster.

Nick Hundley, unquestionably, is the primary man behind the plate. Michael McKenry’s defense, bat and ability to work with the young pitchers just might have earned him a spot on the 25-man roster. Wilin Rosario, still learning on the job, will be the primary backup at first base behind Justin Morneau, as well as providing a big bat off the bench.

“Honestly, the way that it looks like it’s heading, is if we carry the two catchers in Hundley and McKenry, then Rosario lines up now as that half half-catcher who plays first base,” manager Walt Weiss said Tuesday before the Rockies played the White Sox.

Weiss reasons that having both Rosario and McKenry gives the Rockies flexibility off the bench — at least offensively.

New reliever John Axford, long known for his mustache, just might be in the running for the best facial hair. But he’s not sure if he’s got enough going on to overtake Blackmon.

Rocklies relief pitcher John Axford. (Colorado Rockies)

“I have no idea if I do,” the Canadian-born Axford said. “Charlie’s is probably thicker than mine, but I think mine has a better cornucopia of colors, so there’s that.”

In 2011, Axford, then pitching for Milwaukee Brewers, won the 2011 Mustached American of the Year by the American Mustache Institute (AMI).

Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

“We are honored to give this award to the Ax man,” AMI Chairman Aaron Perlut said at the time. “Even though he is Canadian, we believe John represents everything else the Mustached American community values: humor, intelligence and good looks. He is also very tall.”

The 6-foot-5 Axford stopped shaving around Christmastime, but he figures he’ll shave at some point and return to his Rollie Fingers style mustache.

Rockies catcher Michael McKenry (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

So, what’s with the plethora of bristles? Axford, from Simcoe, Ontario, thinks he’s got the answer.

“I guess it’s about plaids and the beards now. People like the lumberjack look,” he said. “As a Canadian, I know that we have always had beards and flannel, so I guess Americans are just behind.”

The Rockies are counting on catcher Wilin Rosario to be able to play some first base in 2015.(John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Scottsdale, Ariz. — There’s a lot riding on Wilin Rosario’s conversion into a part-time first baseman, because Rockies manager Walt Weiss made it clear Thursday that the club won’t carry three pure catchers on its 25-man roster.

“I don’t think it can be strictly three catchers,” Weiss said. “Somebody is going to have to be more versatile than just a catcher. I don’t envision carrying three catchers only.

“Obviously, you are talking about Wilin at first base. I think he’s going to be very serviceable over there and the more things he can do, the better it is for us.”

I’ll admit I was scratching my head, too, especially when nothing was being done to improve the Rockies’ wobbly starting rotation and crumbling bullpen.

But with the recent addition of right-handers Kyle Kendrick, David Hale and Gus Schlosser, at least Bridich has added some depth to the rotation. Is the starting pitching still suspect? Yes. But at least now Jon Gray and Eddie Butler won’t have to be considered backbones of the rotation this season — a role neither young pitcher should be expected to fill right now.

Rockies catcher Michael McKenry attempts to tag out Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy in a game at Coors Field last season. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Catcher Michael McKenry began the 2014 season as an afterthought — at least in my eyes — as the former Pirates backstop opened the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs while completing his recovery from 2013 knee surgery.

I admit that I overlooked his skills and his passion.

By the end of the summer, McKenry was one of the most pleasant surprises during an otherwise discouraging Rockies campaign. He began getting considerable playing time when starting catcher Wilin Rosario struggled with a wrist injury and lack of production at the plate. McKenry made the most of his chance, hitting a career-best .315 in 57 games, including 45 starts.Read more…

That will be one of the major offseason questions for new general manager Jeff Bridich. If, for the second straight winter, the Rockies actively pursue a veteran catcher, we’ll know that the Rockies’ patience with Wilin Rosario is nearing an end point.

Whether the Rockies are able to obtain another catcher — never mind being a real player in the upcoming free-agent derby for Russell Martin — remains to be seen. But it’s clear that Rosario has not developed as the Rockies had hoped or envisioned.

“For all of Wilin Rosario’s hustle, athleticism, power hitting and burning desire to become a better receiver, it’s just not working out. I know there are those in the organization who have grown impatient. The fear is that Rosario has hit a plateau.

He has made strides as a catcher. Rosario and lefty Jorge De La Rosa, the club’s best pitcher, smoothed things out after a rough beginning this season and are now on the same page. As one pitcher told me, Rosario has made “incremental improvements each season, but not that big leap.”

The numbers show that Rosario has not made major strides as a catcher. In 96 games behind the plate, Rosario has 12 passed balls. Compare that to the National League’s best catchers: St. Louis’ Yadier Molina had three passed balls in 107 games; Milwaukee’s Jonathan Lucroy (five in 132); San Francisco’s Buster Posey (five in 111); and Martin (three in 107 games).

Each loss, it seems, is characterized by a new wrinkle. Friday night, it was Arizona’s David Peralta stealing home against catcher Mike McKenry and pitcher Rex Brothers with two outs in the seventh inning.

Peralta was perched on third after hitting a triple. McKenry lobbed a return throw to Brothers. Peralta, sensing McKenry inattentiveness, dashed home and scored easily. Brothers, seeing Peralta break for home, had rushed toward the plate as McKenry’s toss sailed over his head.

Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers steals second base in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Rockies. More photos from the game. (Mike McGinnis, Getty Images)

MILWAUKEE — Get me re-write! Oh, wait, different era entirely.

There were a lot of questions to be asked after the Rockies lost 3-2 to the Brewers Friday night, suffering their 10th defeat in their last 11 games. A few of those questions didn’t get answered in my deadline game story, so I’ll attempt to answer them here:

1. Why did manager Walt Weiss elect to have Matt Belisle pitch to Ryan Braun in the ninth instead of intentionally walking Braun to get to Jonathan Lucroy

Lucroy, hitting .330, is having a great year, but Braun is one of the baseball’s most feared hitters.

“It was one of those pick-your-poison situations,” Weiss said. “I wanted to give (Belisle) a couple of pitches to see where we were at. I wasn’t going to let (Braun) hit in a good hitter’s count.

“I will always take responsibility for that one. It’s not a great situation to be in, facing Braun or facing Lucroy, who is second in the league in hitting.”

Rockies pitcher Christian Friedrich missed the tag on Milwaukee’s Jean Segura in the third inning of last Friday’s loss.

I think it’s fair to say that this has been the week from hell for the Rockies. After a promising run that landed Troy Tulowitzki on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Nolan Arenado in the franchise history books and the team atop the National League West, the Rockies have since fallen to 12th in the National League with a 34-42 record after losing their past seven straight.

Nearly their entire pitching corps is injured and/or struggling, and they rank last in the majors in team ERA (4.88). Tulowitzki consistently looks as though he’s on the verge of tears. And, frankly, the Rockies just look awful.

Michael McKenry, who started the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, supplanted Wilin Rosario in recent days at catcher to work with Rockies rookie call-ups Tyler Matzek, Christian Bergman and Eddie Butler. McKenry caught Bergman’s second start Saturday and went 3-for-4 — his first three-hit game for the Rockies.

McKenry offers better defense behind the plate. And he had a working relationship with those pitchers in the minor leagues.

“Everything we do, we do for a win. We do it for the team,” Rosario said. “He knows those kids a little bit better than me because he has time in Triple-A with them. It’s about confidence. They have confidence in each other.”

Tyler Matzek’s first pitch in the major leagues was a 96 mph fastball to Jason Heyward. And he wasn’t shy about it. Matzek tried to pitch with a reliever’s mindset, he said — never leave anything on the table.

He went on to give the Rockies their best pitching game of the season Wednesday against Atlanta, in an 8-2 victory.

“Part of my game is staying aggressive and having a reliever’s mindset,” Matzek said. “If I try to be soft, stuff gets hit a little bit more.”

The flu has invaded the Rockies clubhouse and on Saturday they made more roster moves to counter the sick. Colorado called up catcher Michael Mckenry from Colorado Springs to replace the ailing Wilin Rosario. To make room, relief pitcher Chad Bettis was optioned again to the Triple-A Sky Sox.

“It’s like the ‘Walking Dead.’ It starts when everybody gets the flu, then they start transforming into zombies,” Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “We’ll all have to go to The Rooftop — that might be the safest place to be.”

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.